Archbishop Drexel Gomez called for Anglican to hear the call of Jesus like the St. Matthew and follow Him. The Archbishop was celebrating with the historic parish as the ministry celebrated its Feast of Title on Sunday.
The televised service was celebrated by the Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Primate of the West Indies and Bishop of The Bahamas, where he congratulated St. Matthew’s for its continued service to the building up of God’s Kingdom on earth.
The Archbishop however noted that Sexual immorality and Worldliness in The Bahamas are things that bring great concern to him.
" We have allowed our society to accept worldly values and worldly standards…and when we are going with the crowd we are going into the wrong direction."
"We are having (in the Bahama) a state of affairs in which it is alright to be immoral, and if we don’t change, it would get worse, before it gets any better!" The Archbishop exclaimed.
Archbishop Gomez admonished members of the church to allow each person to contribute to put on a Christ likeness.
"Let the words of Jesus cause us to live Christ like lives and let this Christ likeness be found at home and at work." The Archbishop noted.
The Archbishop in his appeal to christian in the wider community to put on Christ as he beckons them to follow him and encouraged the church to in the words of Jessie Jackson, "keep on keeping on."
In 1796 Rev. Carter documented that the town was so large that the people were considering building a chapel in the Eastern District.
In 1799 the legislative Council passed an Act to build a Church in the "East". The government gave three thousand pounds but, at completion, the total cost was more than seven thousand pounds (excluding the steeple). The contractor was Mr. Joseph Eve, whose second profession was that of a printer. The seating capacity of the Church was four hundred and fifty.
The first Rector was Rev. Henry Groombridge who arrived in 1802. He conducted the opening service on July 18, 1802. Today 205 years later the parish of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church continues to work strong throughout the Bahamian community.
St. Matthew’s Anglican Church is headed by Fr. James Moultrie is assisted by Frs. Don Haynes and Canon Neil Roach. The Evening service was joined by other Anglican parishes where they processed outside in a spirit of ‘Christian Witness’ at the end of the service in the community.
